Say thanks to Gary Whitta. A couple days ago, TheBook of Eli and Star Wars screenwriter mused about Columbo on Twitter. He soon made the same declaration that others have made in the years since Zodiac: that Mark Ruffalo would be perfect to take up the mantle of the disheveled, persistent LAPD detective originally played by the late (and unimpeachably great) Peter Falk.

Whitta pushed the idea of Ruffalo as Columbo… and then the actor responded, revealing that he’s actually talked about a Columbo project with Now You See Me screenwriter Ed Solomon. The conversation that resulted was terrific.

A whole set of Hollywood players chimed in support for the idea, including some of the “Mystery” twitter accounts, through which execs and creators tweet great commentary about the industry with relative anonymity.

There’s a whole lot more from this, but you can click through these embedded tweets to pull up all digressions in the conversation.

So what does this all mean? Is a movie or TV show with Ruffalo now in the offing? Well, no, clearly not — at least not yet.

This is, however, a very cool example of how tech and tools such as Twitter can connect people while also proving interest in a concept. Now execs at Universal have something to look at when they wonder if people want to see something done with Columbo. And it’s great to see Mark Ruffalo, who already uses his Twitter account to interact with fans and to highlight charitable causes and clean water activism, chime in with some info and a sense of humor about the whole thing.

As such, Ruffalo got the best last word on the subject:

Maybe I should start with a "Woman Under The Influence" with Naomi Watts and then graduate to #RuffaloColumbo